When thinking of Sudbury, you probably think of Ramsey Lake Waterfront or the Science North Museum. But when you look a little closer you’ll see a powerhouse basketball team at Laurentian University, and a huge contributor to that team is Cadence Pecore.
Pecore grew up in Timmins, Ontario, a three and a half hour drive from her new home in Sudbury. She started playing basketball in grade six for the Timmins Selects, and when she went to high school she played for her school’s team at Roland Michener Secondary School. After three quick years dominating on that court, she made the move to Sudbury to attend Lo-Ellen Prep for her final year of high school basketball.
According to Pecore she always knew she wanted to play basketball at the university level.
“I’ve always looked up to the girls in my hometown, my sister played when I was younger, so [when] her friends all started playing university basketball, I was like that might be something I really wanna do,” said Pecore.
Pecore dominated in her first year at Laurentian, averaging 11.9 points and 4.4 rebounds. She made the OUA all-rookie team, and started all 22 games.
But Pecore knows her work isn’t done.
“Last year I was playing loose, I was playing free, and this year it kind of gave me a baseline so I know what I need to work on,” said Pecore.
Pecore says her goal this year is to get past the first round of play-offs. Her overall team’s goal is just to compete in every game they play and show the talent of every person on the team.
“It would be really good for us to make a deep run… we know we can compete with every single team we’ve seen in really early games this season.”
The Laurentian Voyageurs currently have a 2-4 record and a 1-1 record at home. Pecore says the energy of the fans at home is what keeps her team going.
Laurentian is a school that has limited varsity teams. They only have basketball, track and soccer. But Pecore says this is an unique opportunity to get the fans riled up when there is a home game. And during the winter season, it’s just them.
“It’s awesome knowing that when we play at home, we’re the only team that plays in our gym,” she said. “It’s good crowds, we have the pot bangers, so no other school has that. So it’s just a really good environment.”
The Pot Bangers won the Best Fans in the OUA award in the 2023-24 season, and according to Pecore they’ve kept that energy up. Her favourite part about Laurentian is the close-knit community they’ve created.
Pecore has started all six games so far this season and is averaging 8.3 points and 4.7 rebounds.
